Volume 32, Plate XVIII / Ichthyology (Fish)

Black Saw-Bellied Salmon

Serrasalmo niger

A most voracious fish found plentifully in all Guiana’s rivers and dreaded by every dweller, with jaws so strong it can bite off a finger or toe and attack creatures ten times its weight, devouring all but the head and beginning at the tail. Varying from lead-colour to nearly black, with rather small adhesive scales, sharp serrated triangular teeth, and a produced lower jaw, it lives half an hour out of water and is a principal food of the Indians.